Van der Vaart sidelined with ankle injury

Rafael van der Vaart has scored seven goals in 18 starting appearances for Hamburg this season

Hamburg - Hamburger SV will have to do without Rafael van der Vaart for around three weeks after the Dutch playmaker picked up an ankle injury in Saturday's 4-2 defeat at Eintracht Braunschweig.

Van der Vaart had to be subbed off seven minutes into the second half of the encounter and the club confirmed on Sunday that the HSV skipper has damaged ligaments and the capsule in his right ankle joint.

The 31-year-old midfielder suffered a similar injury to the same ankle in friendly action for the Netherlands last November, resulting in a lengthy lay-off. The loss to Braunschweig was Hamburg's seventh in a row in the league and precipitated the announcement of head coach Bert van Marwijk's departure late on Saturday.